Vegan moussaka with creamy bechamel

Vegan moussaka with creamy bechamel

vegan moussaka

After two weeks of relaxation and soaking up the sun in Greece, I thought it’s time to treat you guys to some Greek inspired food again. First off, my second take (first one here) on a world-famous Greek bake – moussaka. As it typically contains both meat and dairy, we only had it once during our stay on Crete (a vegan moussaka that is) and while we were super chuffed to find it, I wasn’t blown away by it so I decided to tinker with the idea in my own kitchen again.

From living in Greece, I do know that it’s possible to find amazing vegan food in local tavernas, but if you are a discerning vegan, you need to either get lucky, or work out the best place by trial and error, which naturally takes some time. We were staying in different places along the south coast for 3 days at a time so we didn’t have much time and luck wasn’t on our side on quite a few occasions too.

After a few very underwhelming meals, I decided that I’d rather cook until we see a new place worth trying, so we ended up alternating going out for dinner with staying in. Duncan felt for me, but I really didn’t mind so much as the produce was so nice and the kitchen equipment so minimal that simple dishes were the only ones I ever attempted: veggie stews, pastas and salads if it was particularly hot and I was feeling lazy.

When most things on the menu contain meat or cheese, going out for 2-3 meals a day becomes a chore. Plus, my body doesn’t appreciate greasy food and most veggie taverna dishes are liberally drizzled with olive oil. Don’t get me wrong, I don’t have anything against olive oil. I use it daily myself, but as opposed to the Greeks, I am rather vigilant about the quantities 😉 .

I remember going out for a meal with a couple of Greek friends and they wanted to drizzle some extra olive oil on an already glistening mezze plate that we were about to share. I asked them if I can move my portion out of the way first and they proceeded to tell me how healthy olive oil is. I didn’t want to argue, but I personally feel like this message has been taken out of context and a little bit too literally. Oil is oil and no matter what plant it is extracted from, your body barely needs it if you consume other fat-rich foods like nuts, seeds and avocados.

So you may be pleased to know that this moussaka requires very little oil, but if you think I’m an oil-phobic freak, fair enough, feel free to override me. I used 2 tbsp to make the ragu and an extra one to brush the baking tin and the potatoes with. I don’t brush the aubergines as I don’t find it necessary at all, they do rather well without any oil when baked and in the moussaka, as they get plenty of moisture from the layers they are sandwiched between. This moussaka may be healthier than the traditional, but it’s still rather indulgently crowned with a generous layer of cashew-based béchamel that rounds all the flavours off nicely. I sincerely hope it will hit the spot. καλή όρεξη!

vegan moussaka ragu

vegan moussaka layers one two three

vegan moussaka layers four five

vegan moussaka cutting slice

serves
8
PREP
45 min
COOKING
120 min
serves
8
PREPARATION
45 min
COOKING
120 min
INGREDIENTS
RAGU

  • 130 g / 2 cups of fine organic soy mince*
  • 2 tbsp olive oil
  • 1 large red onion, finely diced
  • 4 garlic cloves, finely diced
  • 1½ tsp cinnamon
  • ½ tsp ground nutmeg
  • ¼ tsp ground cloves
  • 2 x 400 g tins quality chopped tomatoes (or 5 large ripe tomatoes, peeled and chopped)
  • 1 tsp dried oregano
  • 1 bay leaf
  • pinch of chilli flakes (optional)
  • 120 ml / ½ cup red wine
  • 1 level tsp salt, adjust to taste
  • 1-2 tsp date nectar (I use homemade) or sugar
  • ground black pepper, to taste

OTHER INGREDIENTS

  • 4 medium potatoes
  • 4 medium eggplants
  • 1 small garlic clove (optional)
  • olive oil
  • dried Greek herbs (I used thyme)
  • salt and pepper

BECHAMEL (or nut-free bechamel)

  • 300 g / 2 cups raw cashews (soaked overnight OR in boiling water for 30 min)
  • 1 large garlic clove
  • 1 heaped tbsp white miso paste
  • 4 tbsp / ¼ cup nutritional yeast
  • ½ tsp ground nutmeg, adjust to taste
  • ½ tsp salt, adjust to taste
  • pepper (I used white pepper), adjust to taste
  • 1 slighly heaped tbsp tapioca starch

METHOD
POTATO LAYER

  1. Boil a large pot of water. Cut the peeled potatoes into ½ cm / 0.2″ slices and boil them for 5 minutes. Drain and set aside to cool.

AUBERGINE LAYER

  1. Pre-heat the oven up to 225° C / 440° F and line a large baking tray with a piece of baking paper.
  2. Top the aubergines and cut them into 1.5 cm / 0.6″ slices lengthwise.
  3. Place the aubergine slices on a parchment-lined baking tray (no need to grease them) and into the hot oven for 25 minutes – until they are soft and lightly browned. You may need to do it in two goes (SEE NOTES with regards to salting).

RAGU

  1. Bring a kettle of water to the boil and place your soy mince in a medium size bowl. Once the water boils, pour enough boiling water over the ‘mince’ to rehydrate it (about 2 cups / 480 ml). Set aside.
  2. In a pan, heat up 2 tbsp of olive oil. Add the finely diced onion and fry until translucent and slightly browned, stirring from time to time. Add in the garlic and fry for another minute. Add cinnamon, nutmeg and cloves, coating the onion-garlic mixture in the spices. Gently fry for another minute on low heat so that the spices don’t burn.
  3. Add in the tomatoes, 2 tins worth of water, bay leaf, oregano, chilli (if using) and wine. Simmer covered until the tomatoes break down completely. Remember to give the sauce a good stir from time to time.
  4. Once the tomatoes break down fully and the sauce becomes more uniform, add the rehydrated soy mince and continue to simmer (lid off) until the excess moisture has evaporated and the sauce has thickened. You want the sauce to be rather thick for this application.
  5. Season with salt, date nectar (or sugar) and pepper. Set aside to cool down.

BECHAMEL

  1. Place the drained cashews and 1¼ cups (300 ml) of water in an upright blender. Blend until super creamy and smooth. If you have an average blender like I do, you may need to do it in two batches to obtain smooth results.
  2. Add garlic, miso paste, nutritional yeast, nutmeg, salt and pepper. Adjust seasoning to taste.
  3. Keep the mixture in the blender until you are ready to top the moussaka. Seconds before topping moussaka add tapioca starch into the blender and give it a good whizz.

ASSEMBLY

  1. This is totally optional, but I crushed a garlic clove with some coarse salt with the edge of my knife against a chopping board (believe it or not, I do not own a garlic press ;)) and immersed it in some olive oil to brush the potatoes with.
  2. Brush the bottom of the baking dish with a little olive oil and arrange a layer of parboiled potatoes so that they cover the entire bottom of the tray. Brush the potatoes with a bit of oil (or some garlic oil if you love garlic like me), sprinkle with a little salt and pepper and some Greek herbs (I used oregano and thyme).
  3. Follow with another layer of potatoes, again brush with oil and season.
  4. Place a layer of aubergine slices on top, season and sprinkle with some herbs.
  5. Spoon the cooled-down tomato sauce on top of the aubergines (you’ll have some leftover sauce unless you want the ragu layer extra thick). Even out with a spatula.
  6. Arrange another layer of aubergine slices neatly on top, season.
  7. Finally, spread the béchamel on top evenly.
  8. Bake in a 160° C / 320° F fan oven (or 180° C / 355° F without a fan) for about 40 minutes – until the top gets golden. If the top is browning too quickly, cover it with a piece of kitchen foil. Allow the moussaka to set for an hour or so before cutting or else the slices will come out messy. Store the leftovers in the fridge.

NOTES
*If you don’t want to use soya mince, you could also use green or Puy lentils, crumbled firm cotton tofu or ground up tempeh.

The Pyrex dish I used for my moussaka had the following dimensions: 26 cm x 19 cm x 5 cm.

Some people advocate salting the aubergine for an hour before cooking as the salt is meant to draw out the bitterness, but I’ve forgotten to do that a few times and never tasted any bitterness. Do it ahead of baking if you want, but make sure you rinse the salt off really well and pat all the slices dry before baking.

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NUTRITIONAL INFO
calories
472
24%
sugars
13 g
14%
fats
25 g
35%
saturates
4 g
22%
proteins
16 g
32%
carbs
52 g
20%
*per serving
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5.0
29 reviews, 97 comments
REVIEWS & QUESTIONS
Cécile:
extremely tasty. everybody loved it!
cheers from France
    Ania
    Ania:
    Thanks so much, Cécile! I am so happy to hear that. xx
Kara:
Can you sub out the red wine for anything non-alcoholic or just omit without losing flavor?
    Ania
    Ania:
    Hi Kara,
    Yes, certainly. My recommendation would be porcini (or other dried mushroom) stock. You will need about 10 g / 0.35 oz porcini (or a good vegetable stock) and a splash of good balsamic vinegar. Hope this helps x Ania
Angelika:
A wonderful recipe!! I love to cook it with this white sauce and the lentil ragù you proposed in your previous moussaka recipe. Thank you so much!
    Ania
    Ania:
    Thank you, I am delighted to hear that and thanks so much for taking the time to review - I really appreciate it. x Ania
Aisah:
Hi I haven’t made this recipe but I intend to. I have 3 questions and hopefully I didn’t miss reading them on your blog.
1. Is it 1:1 ratio to replace tvp with lentils/legumes? I intend to use black beluga, would that be a good replacement?
2. Our daughter prefers passata to canned tomatoes. Can I use passata instead? If yes, same amount?
3. What can I substitute red wine with? Is plain water ok? I don’t always have broth on hand.
Thank you.
    Ania
    Ania:
    Hi Aisah,
    Yes, beluga lentils sound like a perfect replacement - I would use 2 cups (500 ml) of cooked lentils. Sure, passata works fine too. And instead of wine, I would add water and a dash of balsamic (up to 1 tbsp) and maybe a tablespoon of miso paste (which means you'll need to add a little less salt) if you have it, if you don't it's going to be delicious anyway. Hope you'll enjoy the result! x Ania
Barb:
amazing recipe! the bechamel sauce is bomb! and the ragu! worth the time, its delicious 😋
    Ania
    Ania:
    Thank you Barb, I am delighted to hear that you enjoyed this dish so much and thought it worth the effort. Thank you for taking the time to review, I really appreciate it. x Ania
Sara:
This looks like a delicious recipe! Could I make and assemble this two days ahead, and then bake it two days later?
    Ania
    Ania:
    Hi Sara,
    Apologies for the delay. Yes, absolutely, I think it will work well. x Ania
Janet:
Firm cotton Tofu? Do you mean crumbled tofu?
    Ania
    Ania:
    Hi Janet,
    I mean both. Cotton tofu is the type of porous tofu (the type that requires pressing usually) that's opposite to silken tofu. Here is an article explaining the difference. Hope this helps! Ania
Gale:
Dear Ania,
Thank you so much for this lovely dish.
It's delicious and nutritious and we all love it.
I get so many complements from my family when I serve it all thanks to you.
Gale x
    Ania
    Ania:
    Aw thank you Gale! I am delighted to hear that this dish is so popular with you and your family (especially that it's close to my own heart too). Thank you for taking the time to review, I really appreciate it. x Ania
Kaitlyn:
This came out so well! I decided to switch it up this year and make this for my Thanksgiving main instead of some kind of roast, and it was delicious. I forgot the red wine and the bay leaf somehow and it still had amazing flavor. I've never had moussaka before so I can't really say that it's super authentic, but it's definitely hearty, satisfying, and super flavorful. Lots of solid nutrition too (protein, veggies, healthy fats, etc). Definitely give it a try sometime--you'll probably have lots leftover, and then it's amazing leftovers for a week. Lol
    Ania
    Ania:
    Thank you, Kaitlyn, I am so happy to hear that it went down so well at your Thanksgiving dinner - totally agree, roast is so normative! And yes, it's great to make even if you are not hosting a large crowd - although, to be honest in my house it lasts 2 nights (my husband who runs everyday eats like a horse ;) ). Thank you so much for taking the time to review and for encouraging others to make it - that's so sweet of you. x Ania
Nicola:
Hands down the BEST vegan Moussaka recipe out there. Moussaka was my absolute favourite dish before I became vegan and I missed it so much but this recipe is spot on and now I can have Moussaka whenever I like. I have made this Moussaka for non-vegan Greek friends and they raved about how good it was. That is all you need to know 😁🇬🇷
    Ania
    Ania:
    Aw, thanks so much for your kind words, Nicola. I am so happy to hear that you love this recipe so much and that it brings back such lovely Greek holiday memories for you. And the fact that omniviours Greeks gave it a seal of approval is the cherry on the cake. Thanks so much for taking the time to review, I really appreciate it. x Ania
Suzan:
A made this moussaka very often! So good. I always use green lentils. The bechamel is amazing. I once made a lot for my collegues so we had a nice lunch and they all liked it very much.
My potatoes use a little longer to cook.
    Ania
    Ania:
    Thank you so much, Suzan! So happy you enjoyed it and green lentils are perfect if you are not a fan of TVP. Glad it went down with you colleagues too. x Ania
Michelle:
One of our go to family recipes. This is always a winner!! We make 8 great portions from this recipe (it fills two lasagne dishes) so we freeze the leftovers.
The bechamel sauce is totally delicious.
    Ania
    Ania:
    Thank you for you kind words, Michelle. I'm so happy to hear that this dish is so popular with your and your family. And I really appreciate you taking the time to review, reviews help my work be found by more people so thank you! x Ania
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